Saint Joseph's trailed after the first and third sets but managed to withhold a Simmons comeback in the fourth set, forcing a deciding fifth frame in the process. The outlook was bleak midway through the final set as the Sharks owned a 9-5 advantage after an unforced SJC error, but senior Felicia Wachowiak (Milton, N.H.) took over from there, as the fourth-year starter registered a pair of kills and 2.5 blocks during a 10-0 Saint Joseph's run that saw the hosts claim a 15-9 win and five-set triumph.

Wachowiak led the Monks with 12 kills, seven total blocks and a career-high 14 digs in what was the program's first GNAC Tournament victory in nine years as a member of the conference.

With the win, Saint Joseph's moves on to the semifinals and will face second-seeded Johnson & Wales University, which swept #7 Lasell College in other GNAC quarterfinal action tonight, in Providence on Thursday night.

The loss signals the end of the 2015 campaign for the Simmons College Sharks.

FIRST SET

The Monks came out strong and held a 17-6 lead midway through the first set, but the visiting-Sharks rallied with scoring spurts to remain in play. Trailing 24-20 after junior outside hitter Victoria Huntley (Ellsworth, Maine) belted a kill, Simmons achieved the improbable by netting six unanswered points, a string that was closed out with a Nicole Alberghini (Northborough, Mass.) kill, to take the first set by a 26-24 margin.

SECOND SET

The second set was eerily similar to the first, at least until the latter segment, as the Monks built an eight point (17-9) before the Sharks fought back into contention with an 8-2 run. Saint Joseph's responded with five unanswered points, as a Huntley kill lifted the hosts to a 23-16 cushion, and the Monks closed out the set with the help of two attack errors to even the score at 1-1.

THIRD SET

The Sharks rallied again in the third, as the visitors erased a 12-6 deficit by posting a 13-4 run en route to securing a 19-16 edge. The Monks fought back to within two points (22-20) on a Simmons service error, but would get no closer to the lead as the Sharks rattled off three-straight points, capped by a Kat Guillotte (New Bedford, Mass.) ace, to take the third set and a 2-1 advantage.

FOURTH SET

The seesaw battle ensued with the fourth set, which may have been the Monks' most consistent frame of the evening. Saint Joseph's led for the duration of the fourth and owned a 20-12 cushion after a Simmons attack error, but the Sharks threatened again as a pair of Alberghini kills and a Guillotte strike helped the visitors climb back to within six points (23-17). The Monks managed to hold off the late rally bid with the help of a Simmons service miscue and looked to maintain momentum going into the deciding set.

FIFTH SET

The Sharks opened the final frame with a Guillotte service ace and held a 9-5 cushion after St. Joe's committed an attack error. A Simmons service miscue opened the door for the Monks and sent freshman libero Jennelle Thompson (Farmington, N.H.) to the line, where she remained for the duration of the fifth set, as Wachowiak posted a pair of kills, junior Shadai Gosselin (Somersworth, N.H.) added a strike, and a Simmons attack error knotted the set at 9-9.

The defensive front came up big for the Monks late, as Wachowiak and junior Mariah Hebert (Biddeford, Maine) shared a block to lift the hosts to their first lead of the closing set and Wachowiak notched a pair of block solos to provide her team with a 13-9 advantage. With Thompson still at the service line, the Sharks committed a pair of unforced errors to account for the 15-9 final.

NOTABLES – Saint Joseph's

Huntley contributed six kills and 17 digsSenior Alli Hollander (Thermal, Calif.) posted four kills and five digsGosselin added three kills and 20 digs and became the fifth Saint Joseph's player to reach the 1,000-dig plateau in tonight's winSenior Abbie McPhee (Epping, N.H.) chipped in with 20 digsHebert boasted 25 assists, 12 digs and three total blocksWachowiak became the first player in program history to notch 400 kills in a single season – she entered tonight's play requiring nine kills to reach the plateauNOTABLES – Simmons

Saint Joseph's held the advantage in digs (110-101) and total blocks (10-8) while Simmons led the way in kills (30-27) and assists (28-27) on the evening. The Monks posted a .033 hitting percentage in the victory while the Sharks recorded a negative .056 rate, with 40 attack errors in the loss.

HISTORICALLY SPEAKING

With the victory, Saint Joseph's improves to 6-5 all-time versus Simmons College, a team the Monks defeated by a 3-1 margin at the Alfond Center on Saturday. The Sharks defeated the Monks by the same 3-2 score the last time Saint Joseph's hosted a postseason match, a quarterfinal bout on November 5th, 2013.

With tonight's win, the 2015 Monks tie the program's single-season victories record. The 1995 team, led by former Head Coach John Razsa, went 27-10.

BEVERLY, Mass. -- Tori McIntyre (CCC Player of the Year) and Lauren Sheehan (CCC 2nd Team) combined for 28 kills to lead third-seeded Endicott College to a 3-1 victory over sixth-seeded University of New England in the opening round of the 2015 Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) Women's Volleyball Championship which started Tuesday evening (Nov. 3) at MacDonald Gymnasium. Set scores were 25-19, 25-8, 22-25, and 25-7.

The Gulls (22-9) advance to face No. 2 Gordon College on Thursday, while the Nor'easters end their season at 6-17.

Endicott paired a .319 attack percentage with 11 blocks, and held UNE to a -.031 hitting clip to secure the win. Hayley Knapp (CCC 3rd Team) added eight kills against no errors, and added a solo block to go with six block assists -- the same number of rejections that McIntyre had a hand in putting down. Mareena Clotfelter and Alleigh VandeMerkt (CCC 2nd Team) dialed up 45 assists for the offense. Defensively, Sheehan and Cydney Pierce (CCC 2nd Team) each had 14 digs and VandeMerkt had 11 more.

Grayson Szczepaniak (CCC 2nd Team) led Big Blue with eight winners and an additional six came from both Courtney Lambrese (CCC 3rd Team) and Emily Rumery. Kristen Falcinelli set-up 18 assists and Brittany Morrison totaled as many digs for the match-high.

A kill from Lambrese and two EC errors leveled the first set at 18-all, but the hosts recorded five straight points out of a timeout to gain an advantage.

The Nor'easters stuffed an Endicott attack with a block to make it 7-5 in the second frame, but the Gulls surged forward with 11 unanswered points -- including four kills by Kelli Sugrue and three from McIntyre -- to seize control.

In the third, play went back-and-forth until UNE put four consecutive points up on the board to take a 21-18 edge. Four times EC got within a couple down the stretch, but three of those instances were countered with kills by Big Blue and eventually forced another set.

That momentum was short-lived, however, as Endicott claimed the initial nine points of the fourth and never looked back.

WATERVILLE, Maine — After the best regular season since 2005, the seventh-seeded Colby College volleyball team is back in the New England Small College Athletic Conference playoffs for the first time since 2012.

The Mules will meet second-seeded and two-time defending champion Williams College in a league quarterfinal match Friday at 5 p.m. at Bowdoin College. The match will be webcast at http://nescac.nsnsports.net/Colby (14-11 overall) lost 3-0 at Williams during the regular season, but were close at 25-20, 25-21, 25-22. Senior middle hitter Kim Donaldson hit .360 and had 12 kills against the Ephs.Donaldson leads the Mules in kills (240 total) and blocks (92). Her career totals are up to 870 kills and 302 blocks.Natalie Roy is four defensive digs shy of 1,300 for her career and she leads the Mules with 335 this season. Sarah Arvidson has 145 kills and 257 digs, while Karolina Serhan is at 140 kills and 45 blocks. First-year Paige Hanssen leads Colby in service aces (46) and has 113 kills and 141 digs.Colby setters Molly Manuel (356 assists) and Emily Moslener (328 assists, 144 digs) will need to pass well at the net.Williams (16-9) is led by setter Ryan Farley, who leads the NESCAC in assists per set at 10.17. She had 35 assists in three sets in the win over Colby in the regular season.Mia Weinland ripped 16 kills for Williams against the Mules in the earlier match. She is second in the conference in hitting percentage (.312).

CASTINE, Maine -- Maine Maritime freshman setter Melissa Spaulding (Fairbanks, Alaska) has been named ECAC Volleyball Rookie of the Week after earning NAC Rookie of the Week on Monday. This is Spaulding's second ECAC Rookie of the Week honor this season.

Spaulding recorded two double-doubles against three tough non-conference opponents. The freshman setter tallied 21 assists, 10 digs, two kills, an ace and a block in a 3-0 loss to Colby on Tuesday, and followed that up with 27 assists, 13 digs, and one kill in a 3-0 win over Simmons College on Saturday. In the Mariners' second game of the doubleheader on Saturday, she added 13 digs, six assists, two aces and two kills. On the week, she averaged 6.00 assists per set and 4.00 digs per set.

All three sets were closely contested as the Monks held a lead on several occasions in each stanza. In the end, the Wildcats proved to be too much to handle, as the hosts held a 45-33 kills advantage with a .216 team hitting percentage in the tourney tilt.

With the victory, Johnson & Wales University advances to the GNAC Championship match for the 12th time in program history and will face top-seeded Rivier University in a rematch of the 2014 title bout, which was won by the Raiders, 3-1. Rivier has won six GNAC Championships while Johnson & Wales owns five conference crowns.

For the Monks, the loss signals the end of the 2015 campaign and the collegiate careers of the team's five seniors: Alli Hollander (Thermal, Calif.), Cassie Leech (Middleborough, Mass.), Abbie McPhee (Epping, N.H.), Felicia Wachowiak (Milton, N.H.) and Sam Wright (Westport, Mass.).

The 2016 volleyball graduating class has led Saint Joseph's to a 77-48 (.616) overall record, including a 27-18 (.600) mark in conference play, with three GNAC Tournament appearances over the past four seasons. The senior class winning percentage is the third-best in SJC volleyball history and the win total is tied for the fourth-highest since 1989.

GAMEPLAY

All three sets were tight with the difference being the Wildcats' play down the stretch. Tied at 18-18 in the first set, JWU finish the stanza with a 7-1 run that included two kills and two aces by senior Paula Cadavid (Pawtucket, RI). The second set was knotted at 19-19 before Kapustin took over with four kills during a 6-2 Wildcat run to win the set. JWU was down 22-18 in the third set before Kapustin turned it on again, recording four kills and adding a block to put the match away.

The Wildcats played strong defense as they held an advantage over the Monks for digs (77-66) and blocks (5-1).

Kapustin led the way for the hosts with 19 kills, six digs, two aces and a .326 hitting percentageEmily Kalmink posted 13 kills, four blocks and a .480 hitting rateKellen Tensen dealt 35 assists with 10 digs and three blocksHISTORICALLY SPEAKING

With the loss, Saint Josephs' falls to 1-12 in the history of the series with Johnson & Wales University, a team the Monks last defeated on September 24th, 2011.

BRUNSWICK, Maine -- The Bates volleyball team's first season under head coach Melissa DeRan came to an end Friday evening, in a 3-0 loss to top-seeded Bowdoin in the quarterfinal round of the NESCAC Volleyball Championship tournament.

The host Polar Bears (21-4) advanced to Saturday's semifinals in straight sets (25-15, 25-9, 25-14) as the Bobcats (10-15) were unable to find any rhythm or momentum, in contrast to last weekend's competitive 3-1 loss to Bowdoin. Bates was credited with only 11 kills, 10 fewer than any other match this season, paired with 19 attack errors for a season-low attack percentage of -.090.

BRUNSWICK, Maine - The Bowdoin College volleyball team swept Bates 3-0 in the opening round of the NESCAC Championship Friday evening at Morrell Gymnasium.

The Polar Bears (21-4) advance to Saturday's conference semifinal where they will play the winner of Tufts and Middlebury at 1:00 p.m. The Polar Bears claimed the win by set scores of 25-15, 25-9, 25-14 to defeat Bates for the third time this season.

Game Highlights

Bowdoin used a balanced attack to earn the win as four different players put home five or more killsQuincy Leech sparked the Polar Bear attack with 28 assists while also putting home five kills and earning 10 digsMichelle Albright and Christy Jewett each had a team-best nine kills while Albright earned 11 digs.Sydney Salle had eight kills and no errors in ten attacks for BowdoinKatie Doherty had a team-high 20 digs for the Polar BearsBates couldn't find their stride after battling Bowdoin to a four-set affair just last weekend as Nicole Peraica led the Bobcats with four killsLaryssa Schepel had seven digs and a match-high three service aces for BatesUp Next

Bates finishes its season with a record of 10-15Bowdoin will play in the NESCAC Semifinals for the fifth consecutive season

BRUNSWICK, Maine — The Colby College volleyball team had the start the Mules hoped for against two-time defending champion Williams College, but the Ephs settled down on the way to a 3-1 win in NESCAC quarterfinal play Friday.

The Mules end the season at 14-12 overall after giving the second-seeded Ephs fits early in the match. Williams (17-9 overall) advances to a semifinal match Saturday at Bowdoin.Colby came out fired up and won 25-18 in the first set. The Mules led 6-0 in the second set when the Ephs seemed to wake up and pull away for 25-17, 25-18, 25-16 set wins.Kim Donaldson finished with 11 kills and eight blocks in her final match at Colby. She finished her career with 881 kills and 310 blocks.Natalie Roy and Sarah Arvidson also played well in their final collegiate matches. Roy had six kills and added 11 digs to give her 1,307 for her career. Arvidson also had six kills and 11 digs.Colby junior Karolina Serhan finished with six kills, Molly Manuel had 13 assists and eight digs, Emily Moslener dished 16 assists, and Alexa Busser added four blocks.Tori Jasuta led Williams in kills (15) and digs (21). Ryan Farley had 38 assists and Ally Ostrow was second in kills with 11.The Mules were dominant at the net in the first set and went out to an early 9-4 lead. Colby kept on the pressure and were helped out by numerous blocks in taking a 19-10 margin. Williams got as close as 24-18 before the Mules closed out the set.Donaldson opened the second set with a kill and Paige Hanssen served five straight points to give the Mules a 6-0 margin. The Ephs, though, began to cut down on attack errors and fought back for an 8-7 lead. With Williams leading 9-8, the Ephs ran off five straight points to take control at 14-8. The Mules cut the lead to 19-16 at one point.Both teams played well in the third set, with Williams finishing with 17 kills and a .378 attack percentage. Colby was strong as well at 12 kills and a solid .190 attack rate. The Mules’ last lead in the set was 11-10 after a kill by Hanssen. Colby manged to tie the set at 15-15, but the Ephs won 10 of the next 13 points.Williams never trailed in the fourth set after going up 4-0. The Mules did fight back and tied the set at 7-7. The Ephs slowly pulled away and had numerous leads of three and four points.

BRUNSWICK, Maine - The Bowdoin College women's volleyball team advanced to NESCAC Championship match for the third time in the last five years with a 3-0 win over Middlebury in the semifinals of the conference tournament on Saturday afternoon at Morrell Gymnasium.

The Polar Bears (22-4) will face the winner of the Amherst-Williams semifinal at noon Sunday for the conference title. Middlebury likely ends its season with a record of 18-7.

Match Highlights

Bowdoin earned the win by set scores of 25-21, 26-24, 25-13The Polar Bears and Panthers battled to two close sets before Bowdoin took command in the clincherIn the opening set, with Bowdoin leading 15-14, the Polar Bears rolled off a 7-0 run to take a 22-14 advantage. The Panthers trimmed the lead to 24-21 before the Polar Bears sealed the 25-21 winThe second set was even closer, with the teams deadlocked at 19 apiece late in the set. Bowdoin used a quick 4-0 spurt to take a 23-19 edge, only to see Middlebyry answer with a 5-1 run to deadlock the set on a Melanie English kill at 24-24. Bowdoin replied with consecutive points to clinch the set, capped by a Quincy Leech ace to take a two set edgeBowdoin quickly jumped ahead in the third set in the eventual 25-13 winChristy Jewett had a match-high 22 kills with 14 digs to lead BowdoinKatie Doherty gathered 28 digs in the victory for the Polar Bears while Leech added 39 assistsErika Sklaver had nine kills and Sydney Salle added eight for BowdoinMiddlebury was led by eight kills each from Becca Raffel and Isabel SessionsHannah Blackburn and Emily Kolodka had 14 digs apiece for the Panthers while Blackburn added 24 assistsUp Next

Bowdoin will appear in its third NESCAC final, following up on a win in 2011 and loss in 2013. The Polar Bears lost to Amherst and defeated Williams in the regular season

NEW LONDON, N.H. – Maine Maritime Academy volleyball fell to Colby-Sawyer College in the North Atlantic Conference Championship on Saturday morning, 3-0 (25-22, 25-22 and 25-9).

In their ninth-straight NAC Championship final appearance Maine Maritime (18-13) began the match with an 8-1 run forcing a Colby-Sawyer (12-24) timeout. The Chargers chipped away at the deficit and eventually tied the score at 18-18 after a kill from senior Kelsey McCulley. The Mariners scored the next two points on a kill from freshman Melissa Spaulding (Fairbanks, Alaska) and an ace from freshman Tess Clark (Spring, Texas). Colby-Sawyer tied the match once again at 22-22 after a kill from senior Kelsey Sullivan and scored the next three points to take the first set, 25-22.

The Mariners came out strong taking a 4-1 lead in the second set, capped by a Clark kill. With the score tied at 7-7, Colby-Sawyer went on a 5-2 run to take a 12-9 lead. The Mariners pulled within two at 14-12 after another Clark kill and again at 24-22 with Clark's ninth kill of the set, but the Chargers put the set away on a McCulley kill, 25-22.

The Chargers jumped out to a 5-1 advantage in the third set and never looked back and winning the set, 25-9 and the match.

NAC Rookie of the Year Clark led Maine Maritime with 14 kills and 12 digs and earning a spot on the All-Tournament team. Spaulding also was named All-Tournament after collecting a match-high 28 assists, three digs and two kills. NAC Player of the Year Gillian O'Neal (Burbank, Calif.) finished with six kills and nine digs.

Gabrielle Rodriguez earned MVP honors after a match-best 15 kills to lead the Chargers, while adding three blocks and three aces. Kelsey Sullivan had eight kills and eight digs, while Kelsey McCulley hit an impressive .467 for nine kills. Both Kelsey's were named to the All-Tournament team. Senior Laura Smolinski had a double-double of 19 assists and 12 digs. With the victory, the Chargers will make a trip to the NCAA Tournament.